Understanding the Creatures

Loki: Chapter 12

It was difficult for the exploratory
team to understand how the creatures see their world. They live
in what is darkness to us, except when volcanic fires can be seen
briefly before the lava attains a crust of cooled rock. What they
"see" is heat. Sound is their major sense, and is used
for communication and navigation. The creatures live in small
groups in balance with the available food supply, and can regulate
their body temperatures by choosing the temperature of the water
in which they live. This leads to variable rates of metabolism
and a time sense very different from our own.

The creatures grasp objects with
their tentacles, which makes it possible for them to pull objects
towards themselves, or themselves towards objects. However, their
bones do not provide much leverage, making the pushing of heavy
objects impossible. This seems to affect how the creatures think
about physical reality. We are still struggling to understand
how the metaphorical implications of this situation affect their
understanding of the physical world.

Life under water limits and shapes
the sorts of technology that the creatures can invent. As almost
everything that they need is freely available in their environment,
they use their intelligence for communicating with one another,
and for the invention of story songs.

The creatures' societal and personal
lives seem to be organized on the patterns of their myths. We
were only able to translate a few of these myths, but they seem
to have great power in the sentients' society. Performing the
myths, especially when the songs are very beautifully sung, may
provide validation for actions and affirmation of the life of
the singer or a celebrated other. The myths also seem to be used
to project patterns into the future, being utilized as a kind
of planning. So far as we can tell, the use of myth provides a
sense of security and stability for the creatures.